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Get a pair of thinning shears (two sided, not the kind with one thinning and one regular blade) and grab a section at a time, flat, and go over the last inch or so with the thinning shears. That will soften the ends up nicely. It's more idiot-proof than trying to cut up into the bottom with regular scissors, which is how I can actually accomplish it, because I'm an idiot

So are thinning shears the scissors with two blades that kind of look like clipper blades? (I share your idiocy!)

No problem! I find thinning shears can fix a lot of mane ills. Just keep going over it until it looks right, the beauty is they only take out a portion of the hair at a time. Like the forelock that's banged across, personally I'd comb that straight up, use real scissors to get it back to a rounded shape, and thin the ends. Would look fine again

I don't bang tails because I fight for every inch of length I have. Neither of my two are very blessed in the full and thick tail department though. Maybe I will try it ?!?!

Are they thin tails? If so they'll probably look better banged somewhere between mid cannon and the bottom of the hock. It sounds counter-intuitive, but the straight cut and shorter length make they tail appear fuller. My first horse had that wimpy tail that chestnut seem to have often and I kept it short and it looked nicer.

I definitely do banged tails. You quickly realise why it's done when you live here too. Keeps the mud from dragging out the hairs and less of a funky mess. Also if you hunt, actual hunt, you don't want long tails. Racing either. I love the look. Tails are easy to keep and they stay thicker this way. In winter a tad shorter than summer. I just redid everyone a couple of weeks ago. Won't do much throughout the summer. FYI, the clippers are best for this as it's a very neat job.

Manes I mix with pulling and scissors. Obviously not cutting across, just cutting up here or there and pulling little bits.

There's an art to it, but it's not too hard. However I wouldn't recommend doing it if you plan to braid because it WILL leave some shorter hairs sticking up - you don't notice them when the mane is laying flat.

I'm totally not into fashion of any kind, horsey or otherwise. I ride mounted games, and nobody cares what the ponies look like. That said, I usually do roached manes to keep them out of the way, and they do look nice as they grow in. However, I am free leasing a Connemara mare this season, and her owner won't let me roach her mane. She takes her to a breed show every August and says roached manes are a no-no for Connemara shows. The mare does not tolerate having her mane pulled, and her owner did the razor blade thing last year, which left Chloe with all these hairs sticking straight up out of her mane, and some mane that was like six inches longer than the rest. I cut the long hair, and it doesn't look bad at the moment. I'd like more details on how to cut it so it looks natural though. I'm not getting the whole "cut at an angle" thing. Or the "perpendicular" scissors thing. Can somebody share more specific details on how to cut the mane without it looking like a dutch boy? I should note that my daughter's Hackney pony looks fabulous with her mane cut like that, but her mane is much thinner than Chloe's.

See, idk, maybe i'm just the odd one out that likes the Dutch boy look hahaha :P

My BO has an absolutely adorable arab/wb with a gorgeous face. She also has wild woman hair. He doesn't show her, and was just tired of the mane everywhere, so he hacked it. The forelock was straight across, not so short, but straight.

Every time I see her, I giggle. She looks like Cleopatra. Maybe it is her face, but she pulls it off. My non-horsey friend saw it, and now wants all horses to have this look.

A few years back, someone decided my horse's mane needed a trim. Said horse could NOT handle pulling, so they just took scissors and went snip, snip, snip - straight across. I could've handled that - because I could fix it. But then they chopped off a good portion of his forelock. I heard about it and was like, "Oh well, it'll grow back. They were just trying to be nice." But then when I saw it, I wanted to cry.

It still grew back, of course, but for a while he looked like a little school boy with a bowl cut.

I despise a blunt cut forelock. It reminds me of a kid that cuts their doll's hair. I have to admit, I automatically assume the owner is a novice when I see a chopped forelock lol...I supposed that is probably bad but I do. I guess its because all the kids take scissors to their backyard ponies so I always think "kid's horse" when I see it.

I love a banged tail and manes are fine however is breed and discipline appropriate for me. Not a big fan of roaching but it works for some.

The one mane no no for me is when the same kids who give their horse bangs blunt cut the manes level with the ground instead of the same length from the crest of the neck. (its longer at the top graduated shorter to the withers) I dont know why they cant see that its not even.

If you are a fan of the blunt cut bangs, then I like the ten o'clock cut version of it on the link twelvegates posted. Gives it some free character while avoiding the Moe-look!

My old guys are pleasure or retired horses, so I bang their tails at the fetlock joint, and trim their mane's in a very light, modified 10 o'clock manner so they look nice and free, while still staying nicely trimmed. The forelocks I leave to mother nature unless a few stray hairs start sticking into their eyeballs, and those strays get trimmed back one hair at a time.

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." Albert Einstein

Long forelocks are to keep flies out of their eyes, IMO. I wouldn't mind trimming the tips if they were unbleached, ratty etc, if the trim left the forelock long enough to cover the eye completely. But I still wouldn't cut it straight across.